In Her Shoes
by InsaneWriter
Summary: She just stared at him. Wait, this is impossible... I can't be in the show... He can't be Derek Venturi, he's not real. Her head was spinning...
1. How it started

**Disclaimer: I do not own LWD or any of it's Characters.**

**Characters I don't own: Derek Venturi (Duh!), Casey Mcdonald, Nora, George, Edwin, Lizzie, Marti, Sam, Emily, Victoria (Casey's cousin).**

**Characters I do own: Katelyn or Kay Thomas and everyone else who doesn't sound familiar.**

**Summary: What happens when an everyday teen gets sucked into the popular TV show _Life with Derek_?**

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It always seemed like she was anti-social, but she was just very shy. Because of that she was often pushed around and bullied by others. She was a beautiful young woman, her eyes shimmered like two lucid green emerald jewels. Her complexion was a lovely light brown, she appeared tall and somewhat tom-boyish. Katelyn Thomas looked down at her feet as she walked home from school. Dried tears were visible on her lovely features as she thought about the incident that happened at school that day.

_She sat outside of the school cafeteria eating her food alone. She was waiting for her boyfriend Jake who wasn't there yet. As soon as she was finished eating she walked back into the cafeteria. She saw a group of people standing around one of the tables in the middle of the room. Curiousity took her over and she walked over to see what they all were looking at. As soon as she walked up everyone became quiet. She saw a laptop on the table and playing on the screen was a movie of two people having sex which for Kay, was no big deal. Until she took a closer look... It was her boyfriend Jake! She could feel her breath leave her and her heart sink. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she ran out of the cafeteria, the tears pouring out of her heart to her eyes and down her cheeks. She didn't attend anymore of her classes after that._

Katelyn walked into the modern white structure she called home and made her way upto her room, but before she could get there her name was called. It was her mom, Jackie. Kay sluggishly walked back down into the dinningroom and saw her dark-haired mom sitting there calmly at the end of the table.

"Yeah?" Kate muttered. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with her mom.

"Your principal just called, he said you missed half a day at school," The mother said severely and with much condemnation.

Kay just rolled her eyes and began to walk out. "Don't act like you care," She said in a low tone.

"Katelyn Thomas, don't walk away from me." Jackie stated firmly, but her daughter continued her way upstairs. "Wait until your father get's home."

The seventeen year old girl slammed the door and leaned back on it for a moment. _I can't believe this... _She thought. She took out her cellphone, no missed calls. _If he wanted to break up with me he could've just told me instead of doing it in such a cruel way. _She jumped on the bed on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow. Suddenly, she sat up on her bed and remembered her favorite TV show was about to come on, _Life with Derek_. She grabbed the remote on her nightstand and turned on the television which sat on the dresser infront of her fullsize bed. She sat there contently, watching the show. The only time she felt totally at peace is when she was watching that show. There was something about _Life with Derek _that just made her forget about all her problems.

**xAx**

Kate had drifted off to sleep in the middle of the show. Usually she would have never done that. Her eyes flickered open as she expected to find herself on her bed. Fear overcame her as she sat up, not recognizing anything in the room. Not the desk, nor the bed, not anything. Her brain started to overload, causing her head to ache. _Where the hell am I? _She asked herself as she swung her legs over the bed. She took another glance at her surroundings once more. Her eyes widened in shock. _Oh my god... _Her lips parted and her jaw dropped. _I think I'm in Casey Mcdonalds room. _She gradually stood up, no one seemed to be home. _This is a dream... _She thought as she walked out into the middle of the street to get the whole view of the Mcdonald/Venturi home. _Just close your eyes and you'll be back at home again. _She did for a moment, then she opened one eye and she was still there infront of the house, in the middle of the street.

Suddenly she heard honking, then screetching of tires, She turned to look at the car just inches away from her. She stood there stunned as the driver got out of the car. She couldn't see, the headlights of the car blinded her, she could only see a tall masculine silhouette walking towards her.

"Casey?" The voice was familiar to her.

She was puzzled for a moment. _Why is he calling me Casey? _She asked herself. Right there at that moment she realized who she was talking to. It was Michael Seater who played Derek Venturi in her favorite show. "Michael Seater..." She murmured.

"Who?" He asked with a very confused look upon his features.

Kate knew she couldn't have been wrong about him. He looked just like Michael. The deep brown eyes, his dark hair, those handsome features. He was alot taller in person also, probably about 5'11 or so. She just stared at him. _Wait, this is impossible... I can't be in the show... He can't be **Derek Venturi**, he's not real... He's not real... _Her head was spinning with a whole bunch of questions. She placed her hand on her forehead, everything was becoming so blurry and all she heard was, "Hey, are you okay?" Then all she saw was darkness.

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**To continue or not to continue? Readers, Review.**


	2. I Didn't Know

**Here's the next Chapter... Keep reviewing it keeps me hyped : )**

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Kate's eyes flickered open and she found herself in bed. Sighing, she sat up and thanked god it was only a dream. It was dark in the room, so she turned on the lights and discovered that she wasn't dreaming. She was in Casey Mcdonalds room once again. She then caught a glimpse of herself in a small mirror on her dresser. _Holy shit! _She thought in complete startlement. _Long brown hair, blue eyes, light complexion. _Katelyn Thompson was an exact replica of Casey Mcdonald herself. She couldn't help but to scream and it echoed all through-out the house.

Before she stopped Michael/Derek rushed in and asked, "What happened?"

Kate looked at him then glance back at herself, then at him again. "I..." _Wait a minute. _She stopped herself. _You can't tell him anything, he'll think you're crazy. _"I don't know how I got here," she said a bit calmer now.

"I guess you were traumatized when I almost hit you with my car. You fainted and I brought you up here," He explained. "By the way, I'm Derek Venturi."

Well that confirmed everything. She _was_ in the TV show _Life with Derek_. But how was that even possible? And how did it happen? She introduced herself, "I'm Katelyn Thomas." She stepped away from the dresser. "Thanks for, you know, doing this."

He replied, "It's no biggie." He sat on the bed and asked, "Where are you from?"

She walked around the room looking at the little decorations. "Uh-" _Come on Kate. You remember where you're from. _The funny thing was that she couldn't. "I don't remember," She said worriedly. What the hell was wrong with her?

Derek just stared at her for a moment. "You don't?"

She shook her head as she felt tears of fear and sadness flow down her cheeks. "No," She mouthed.

He stood up from the bed, walked over to her and said, "Please, don't cry. I'm sure there's an explanation for this."

Kate sure hoped so because, she didn't like this feeling at all. She was scared, sad, and confused all at the same time. She came to the point where she didn't know what to think anymore. She wiped the tears from her eyes with a kleenex Derek gave her.

"Do you even have a place to stay?" He asked concernly.

She shook her head.

He grinned gently at her and said, "You can stay here for awhile."

"No, I couldn't... What about your parents?" She asked as she backed away from him.

"Don't worry about them," He assured her. "I'm sure they won't mind."

Kate figured that maybe staying there would help her figure out some answers. She knew that there was a reason to why she was there. The hard part would be trying to decipher that reason. Hesitantly, she accepted his offer.

Later that evening the rest of the _Mcdonald/Venturi_ family arrived home. Derek told her to wait in the room while he talked to his dad and step-mom. She nodded and sat on the bed. It would be crazy to deny that she was excited about meeting George, Nora, Lizzie, Edwin and cutie little Marti.

As she sat there on the bed she thought, _Why is everything so weird? This is Casey's room, right? Doesn't she exist here? _She was so confused. As she stood in the street before she collapsed, Derek said Casey's name in a weird way. Nothing made any sense at all and when she tried to make sense of something it only confused her even more. It was driving her to the brink of insanity. Her musings were soon interrupted by Nora Mcdonald, the brown haired woman just stared at Kate like she was an alien or something.

"Oh my god," Nora muttered as Derek walked in behind her. "You're right, Derek..."

This was freaking Kate out. _Why is **she** looking at me like that now? What's he right about? _She decided to stop being so nice. "What's going on here?" She stood up indignantly. "Why're you looking at me like that?"

"Calm down," Nora sat her down. "It's just you look so much like..." She trailed off, a look of sorrow overcame her features.

"Like who?" Kate knew who she was talking about, but she couldn't let them know that.

"Casey," Derek finished for his step-mom. "She was my step-sister."

_Was? Why did he say 'was'? _"What happened to her?" Kate was almost afraid to ask.

Nora changed the subject. "You can stay here as long as you want, Katelyn."

"Please, call me Kate."

Nora nodded, then she stood up and left the room.

"It's hard for her to talk about it," Derek stated, he leaned on the doorpost. "It happened so unexpectedly."

She crossed her arms and waited for him to go on.

"She died a year ago," He stated bluntly.

Kate saw something in his eyes that said he missed her. "I'm sorry," She said looking down at her feet. "Would you mind telling me how?"

He shook his head, shifted a bit, then said, "She was at school when it happened. She committed suicide infront of everyone. She jumped off the top of the school library."

She froze in startlement as a whole flood of new questions entered her crowded mind.


	3. And the plot thickens

_Oh my god, _Kate put her hand to her mouth and said nothing. _Suicide? Why would she commit suicide? What would push her so far? Or maybe the question was who? _She thought.

"Do you know why she would do that?" Kate could tell it was hard for him to talk about it, but she had to know. Maybe Casey's death was the reason Kate was brought there, but she still wasn't sure. Everything was still so blurry.

"No, I don't... She seemed fine to me before she died. To this day I don't understand why she did it." Derek sighed and went on, "Sometimes, I blame myself. I could've been a better step-brother to her."

_Awww... He does care about Casey. _Kate thought with a slight grin on her face. "No, don't blame yourself, Derek." She then asked, "That's weird though. She didn't show signs of depression or anything?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Well, did anything negative happen in her life?" She asked. Now she was starting to sound like _Doctor Phil_. She laughed inwardly.

"Actually, she broke up with her boyfriend, Sam, but they were always breaking up and getting back together," He replied casually.

_That's right..._ "Isn't he your bestfriend?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head in a "Hell no" kind of way. "No, eversince him and Casey started going out we kind of drifted apart. We also had some tussles in the past," Derek looked at her keenly and stated, "Don't ask."

Okay this was too much information for Kate she needed to find an excuse to get rid of Derek so she could think, she stood up. "I'm uh- kinda hungry." Yes, it was very random.

He rose an eyebrow in confusion. "Okay? Well, uh- I'll go check the fridge." He paused a moment before finally walking out.

Okay so this is what Kate knew so far, she somehow appeared in her favorite TV show looking exactly like the late Casey Mcdonald. Casey had committed suicide, before that, she broke up with Sam and to top it all off, Derek and Sam weren't bestfriends anymore. This was getting interesting.She stood up and began to snoop around the room. Maybe she could find something in her closet. She looked around and way up on the top shelf, she saw a black box. She took the computer chair from her desk to use as a stool to reach it and take it down. She sat on the closet floor and opened the box. Inside were a bunch of pictures and articles. She saw a picture of Casey and Derek, he was leaning on her shoulder infront of the house. Another was of Casey, Lizzie, Edwin, Derek and Marti at the park. She then read an article which had Casey's picture on it.

_Casey Mcdonald the daughter of Nora Mcdonald Venturi was a student at Ontario high. She was a member of many clubs, and was a straight "A" student. Many of her teachers loved how determined she was in her school work. She died on February 14th 2005, Valentines day. Her family requested not to reveal cause of death. She left behind her mother, step-father(George Venturi), sister(Elizabeth Mcdonald), two step-brothers (Derek and Edwin Venturi), and a step-sister (Marti Venturi). Her bestfriend Emily and boyfriend Sam. She was 16 years old._

Kate bit her bottom lip and thought, _How awful._

"Casey?" It was little Marti standing there in the doorway. She was just as cute, if not cuter, in real life than on TV.

"No, sweetie," Kate said gently. "I'm Kate."

The little girl walked up and sat next to Kate. "I'm Marti." She smiled at her. "You wanna play dress-up?" She asked enthusiastically.

Kate was about to say no, but how could she say no to that adorable little face? She nodded. "Okay." She followed Marti into her room. The little girl handed her some white gloves a pink sash and some jewelry. As this was going on Lizzie walked in.

"So _you're _Kate, huh?"

Marti and Kate stopped, looking over at the teen.

The Casey look-alike nodded. Lizzie didn't seem too happy to see her.

"She's **not **Casey, Marti," she stated firmly.

"I know that," The little girl replied, then rudely Lizzie walked out of the room.

Confused yet again, Kate continued to play with Derek's little sister.

It soon came time for a late dinner with the Venturi/Mcdonald family. Kate walked down into the diningroom and took a seat across from Lizzie. Edwin and George just stared at her completely speechless at how much she looked like Casey. _I know, I know... _Kate thought sheepishly.

As everyone ate their meal, there was nothing but silence. Kate noticed Nora glancing at her from time to time. She knew Nora wanted to say something, but didn't prod.

"Kate, I hope you don't mind, but I made an appointment for you to see the doctor tomorrow," Nora finally said. "His name is Doctor Parker."

Chewing her food, Kate nodded in agreement. _I need to see a doctor. _She thought taking a sip from her cup. Suddenly the doorbell rang, Derek stood up. "I'll get it."

"That's probably Emily," Edwin sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Emily?" Kate said afraid of what he was going to say next.

"Yeah, his girlfriend," Edwin finished.

No, this wasn't right. Derek and Emily? _How could Emily do this to me- I mean- Casey. _She was angry at the thought of Derek and Emily locking lips. She cringed in complete disgust. Just then Derek and Emily walked in holding hands. That image alone made Kate want to vomit. "Excuse me," Kate stood up and walked upstairs. She noticed Emily staring at her, but didn't quite give a damn.

"She okay?" Emily asked after getting over the fact that she looked like Casey.

Derek sighed and said, "Wait here, I'll go check on her." He walked upstairs and looked in Casey's room first, Kate wasn't there. He then heard something in the bathroom. He knocked twice on the door and asked, "Hey, Kate, are you okay?"

She answered, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

She sounded more annoyed this time as she replied, "Yes, Derek!"

He took a step back kind of surprised at how she answered him. He then decided to leave it alone and walk back down.

Inside of the bathroom Kate stared at herself in the mirror, trying to figure things out. _Okay, why are you so upset over this whole Emily/Derek thing? Why do I feel like this? _She asked herself. _Maybe because she was Casey's bestfriend and Emily totally betrayed her. Just because Casey died she thinks she had the right to move in on Derek. _Kate crossed her arms and began walking around the bathroom. _Wait a minute? _She stopped in her tracks. _Why do I even care? _She looked at herself in the mirror once again, then walked out.

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**I absolutely love all the positive reviews... But I feel like something's missing... Somebody, anybody give me some suggestions about the story plot and what not. Please?**


	4. This isn't me!

It was Kate's first night at the Mcdonald/Venturi house and she was already having problems with Derek. Yeah at first he was nice and seemingly concerned, but now that she knew he was dating Casey's bestfriend... She saw him in completely different eyes. Casey _was_ right about him, he was an obnoxious, selfish... Wait a minute. _I sound jealous. _She thought as she laid on Casey's bed looking up at the ceiling. _No, Kate, you cannot act like this. _She told herself with a sigh. _You have more important things to worry about, like getting out of this **TV Show**. _Just then out of the corner of her eye, she saw Derek leaning on the doorpost of her room with his arms crossed.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her carefully.

She said, not taking her eyes off the ceiling, "No. What in the world would make you think there's something wrong?"

He shifted and replied, "Oh jeeh, I don't know, maybe the additude, the cold shoulder, you know, things like that."

She took a sharp breath and turned to lay on her side, facing away from Derek. "I'm going to bed now, don't let the door hit you on your way out."

His eyes narrowed as he walked in and sat on her bedside. "See what I mean!" He pointed out to her. "What did I do to deserve all this icy-ness from you?"

She sat up quickly and glared at him. "Well for one, you didn't get out when I told you I was going to bed and two..." _Wait, stop, don't tell him. _She stopped herself and just crossed her arms.

"Two?" He waited for her response.

She didn't speak.

Soon George intervened, "Derek, are you torchering our guest?"

"Yes," Kate said firmly.

"Leave her alone now," George told his son, then he walked away.

Derek glared at her and said nothing as he walked into his room. She did however, hear him mutter, "She is so much like her."

_So much like her? Like Casey? _She laid back down, tired from the long day she's had. _I should probably contact Sam tomorrow to ask him some questions. I hope he doesn't freak out. _She thought, her eyelids getting heavier by the minute. Then finally she found rest and fell into a deep sleep.

The following morning, Kate woke up almost forgetting where she was and just as she hesitantly got out of bed, Nora walked in and told her to get ready for her doctor appointment. Kate nodded and walked over to Casey's closet. She knew there had to be something wrong with wearing a dead-womans clothes, but she couldn't very well wear the same thing everyday, that would be disgusting. So she picked out a pair of dark blue jeans, a white fitted t'shirt and sneakers. She also fixed that long brown hair of hers in a bun. She then walked down into the kitchen where the family ate breakfast. _Whoa... Just like in the show. Exactly. _She found it amusing.

"You want some cereal?" Marti asked in that cute little voice of hers.

Kate stood there at the counter as Edwin gave her a spoon and bowl. "Thanks, Edwin."

"Uh-huh," He replied as he grabbed his backpack and pulled Lizzie out the door. They didn't want to be late for the bus.

George had already left for the office so the only people left in the kitchen was Kate, Marti and Derek who sat quietly on the counter, eating his bowl of cereal, just glaring at Kate from time to time.

Marti was still very young, but she noticed something going on between the two so she said, "I'm going to draw you a picture up in my room, Kate."

Kate nodded and watched the little girl gallop upstairs.

"So this is how it's gonna be, huh?" She asked Derek, putting her bowl into the sink.

He groaned in frustration. "Are you about to have another bitch fit? Because if you are, I'm leaving."

"Fine then," She retorted. "Leave."

He grabbed his backpack and walked out slamming the door behind him. Kate glared and thought, _I could kill him right now. _In that moment Nora walked in and called Marti down. They dropped her off at preschool before going to the doctors office.

The wait at the office wasn't that long and the check-up was even shorter. It was the brain scan she had to take that took up half the day. To top it off, Kate really hated doctor visits.

On the drive home from the doctors office, Kate and Nora were silent for a long while. Luckily it was a long ride home. It wasn't an awkward silence, though, so that relieved Kate.

"I'm sorry," Kate said as she fiddled her thumbs.

"About what, Sweetie?" Nora asked a bit confused.

"Casey."

Nora took a quick glance at Kate, then back at the road again. "Oh... It's okay," She smiled at the teenager softly.

Soon they arrived home, but before Kate could walk into the house Nora stopped her by saying, "Kate... I know Derek told you I don't like to talk about her, but I just want you to know..." Her eyes were watering by this time. "I love my daughter with all my heart, and just because I don't want to talk about her, doesn't mean I don't think about her at every waking moment."

_Man, I knew I shouldn't have said anything. _Kate walked upto her and hugged her trying to comfort her. "No, I know, Nora... I know."

The teen let go of the older woman. Nora looked into Kate's eyes and smiled. It was like she was saying, "Thank you." and Kate couldn't help but to smile back.

The two walked into the house finding George in the kitchen cooking dinner, Lizzie and Edwin were helping him, and Marti was watching TV. Kate didn't give a shit what Derek was doing.

She walked upstairs to Casey's room, hearing music blaring from Derek's room. _What the hell? _She thought as she walke upto his door and banged on it. "Hey! Would you lower your godamn music!"

Suddenly the door flung open and before she could react he grabbed her by the arm, pulled her in and shut the door. She wasn't surprised at how fast he was. He _did_ play Hockey. "What the hell are you doing?"

He gave her a side-long look and said, "Okay, I've been thinking about this all damn day! What did I do to make you mad at me?"

She sighed. "Oh my god, Derek, give it a rest." She turned to leave, but didn't let that happen, he trapped her between himself and the door. He had gotten curiously close to eachother.

"No, I'm not letting you get away," He said, almost in a deep whisper. The music was still blaring as he had her pinned against the door.

"Why do you give a shit? You've only known me a day!" She pointed out as she slipped out of his grasp.

"Eversince yesterday at dinner you've been a bitch and I want to know why," he said demandingly. He walked closer to her, totally not respecting her personal space.

She gasped. "Take that back, I have not been a bitch!"

"Uh- yes you have," he said matter-of-factly.

She shuved him to the door.

He shuved her back into his desk.

She pushed him harder onto his bed, but he managed to grab her wrist and pull her down with him. Kate fell on top of him and there they locked eyes. _Oh my god, no Kate... He has a girlfriend. _She got off of him and said nothing as she walked out of his room and into hers closing the door behind her. She plopped herself on the bed and buried her face in a pillow screaming in frustration. _You're not suppose to have feelings for him, Kate! _She cursed herself. _What's going on here? _She couldn't figure it out. She had this sudden hate for Derek, she was way more outspoken, and to top it all off she was a neat freak! _This isn't me... This isn't me at all..._

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**Thanks for all the reviews and I'm going to take all the suggestions to heart. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will try to update soon.**


	5. I want answers!

Dinner time soon came and the Mcdonald/Venturi family all sat down. Derek and Kate sat across from eachother. The whole dinningroom was enveloped in silence before George decided to break the silence.

"How was the doctor appointment?" He asked Nora.

She replied, "Good, although neither of us liked staying there in the doctors office all day."

"What'd they do to you?" Edwin asked curiously.

Kate replied, "A whole entire check-up, with a brain scan."

"What's a brain scan?" Marti asked with a befuddled look on her features.

George explained, "It's where they take pictures if your brain."

The little girl nodded. "Ohhh..."

Lizzie suddenly interrupted, "May I be excused?"

Everyone was silent for a moment before Nora said, "Yeah, just put your plate up."

Lizzie stood up and put her plate in the sink, then she ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door. Apparently she was still mad at Kate. For what? She didn't know. She didn't do anything wrong, well atleast she didn't think she did anything wrong.

Kate sighed. "I think I should go talk to her." She stood from the table and made her way upto Lizzie's door. She knocked softly.

"What?" Was the hostile reply.

"It's Kate, can I come in?" She asked carefully.

Lizzie replied, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Kate walked in and saw Lizzie laying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She looked a bit calmer, atleast that's what she hoped. "Did I do something to make you upset?"

"No," Lizzie answered firmly.

"Okay, I know I may look like Casey, walk like Casey and talk like Casey, but I'm not Casey and I'm not trying to replace her," Kate spoke from her heart.

Lizzie sat up and gazed at her harshly. "You think that's what all this is about? You're wrong." She stood up and went on pacing back and forth, "I was getting along with everything fine, then you came along and that's when I realized it..."

"Realized what?"

"That's when I realized how much I miss her and how much it hurts. Seeing you everytime tears me apart and I hate you for that," Lizzie said, her eyes all watery at this point.

Kate looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry..."

"Just get out," Lizzie pointed to the door and Kate hesitantly walked out.

She walked over to her room and felt absolutely horrible for causing this much pain to Lizzie. But she wondered if it was just Lizzie who felt this way. She figured everyone felt this way about her. _Why am I here with this burden? _She asked herself as she walked downstairs to help with the dishes. _Oh god, Derek's doing the dishes. _She walked up to him and asked if he needed help. He handed her a towel so that she could dry the dripping wet, washed dishes.

As Derek turned towards Kate he accidently hit her elbow causing her to drop a glass cup on the floor.

"Nice going _Klutzilla_," Derek teased her.

She replied, "You, made me drop it! Clean it up."

He laughed and said sarcastically, "Whatever you say, princess." He didn't help her and just walked to his room.

She groaned in frustration and exclaimed, "You are such a jerk!" She then bent down and began to pick up all the big pieces of glass, then she swept the kitchen floor. She didn't want anyone to step on little shards of glass. She suddenly realized something. _Derek just called me **klutzilla**, he used to call Casey that. _She shook her head out of the daydream. She walked into Derek's room as he was on his computer as usual.

"You called me _klutzilla_, Derek." She crossed her arms as she stood infront of his desk.

He nodded casually and replied, "Yeah, so?"

She paused. _Wait, stop... You can't let him know, he'll think you're a stalker. _"I just thought it was weird," She said before quickly walking out.

Derek followed her and asked, "What do you know, Kate?" He stopped her from slamming her door in his face.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she sat on her bed.

He crossed his arms and gazed at her with a stern expression. "I don't know how you know," He said as he sat next to her.

"Know what?" She said trying to hide her nervousness.

He stood up and exclaimed, "Don't play dumb with me, Kate! You know I used to call her that, now how do you know?"

She stood up and crossed her arms. "What?" She sneered at him.

"How do you know I used to call Casey that?" He said very slowly, yet firmly. He walked closer so that he was only a few inches from her face.

Kate remained bold and said, "I just know." She started to walk towards the door, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her so that her back was against his chest.

"You won't be able to hide it much longer," He whispered into her ear. "I'll find out sooner or later and then you'll be sorry." He let her go and walked out.

Kate just sat on the bed a bit traumatized. It suddenly got so hot. _His chest is so firm and his breath sends chills down my spine. _She thought as she fell back. _Did Casey have feeling's for Derek? She must have or why else would I feel like this? _

"Hey, Kate," Nora stood in the doorway. "I'm going to the mall tomorrow with Derek, Edwin, Lizzie and Marti, you wanna go?"

With a smile Kate accepted the invitation. _A little window shopping will do me good. _She thought with a grin.

The next day as the Mcdonald/Venturi family (except for George who was working) walked through the mall, Kate saw people looking at her in a weird way, again. She was beginning to get tired of all the stares.

She held Marti's little hand as they made their way to the eatery.

"Nora, I want a kids meal," Marti said as she sat next to Kate.

Lizzie and Edwin had wandered off already.

"Is it okay if I look around?" Kate asked Nora.

She nodded. "Yeah, Derek will show you around."

He looked at Nora with a "Are you serious?" look.

The mother gazed at him gravely. "Stick to her like glue."

Derek sighed. "Let's go."

Kate followed. _He is such a jerk. Doesn't even want to show me around. It's not like I know this mall. _She however, underestimated herself. She found out that she knew that mall better than Derek which was really weird and confusing. _Why do I suddenly know my way around? _She asked herself.

As Kate and Derek walked they both heard a familiar voice, "Hey, 'D'!" It was Sam.

_Oh my god. What do I do? He's gonna freak out when he sees me. _Kate tried to hide her face with a piece of paper she was holding, but was of course, unsuccessful.

"Casey?" Sam just stared at her with wide eyes and his jaw wide open.

"Uh-no..." Derek waved his hand infront of Sam's face getting his attention. "This is Kate."

She just smiled at him and said softly, "Hi." _Okay, this is really awkward. These are one of the times I wish I was invisible. _She shook his hand.

"Hey, I'm Sam." He smiled at her.

There they just stared at eachother for a long time. _His eyes... They're trying to tell me something. I know it. _She thought.

Derek interrupted the moment. "Look I really hate to break this up, but we gotta go," Derek grabbed her hand and began to pull her along.

"Hey, wait, I need to talk to him," Kate said upsettedly.

"Why would you want to talk to him? He's nothing but trouble," Derek stated.

That's when Kate began to think. _What could have caused this hate Derek has for Sam? I don't get it. _At this point she was again very puzzled once again. Once she had Derek alone, she was going to interrogate him and get to the bottom of this.

**AAA**

**A/N: Keep reviewing and I'm open for suggestions. Thanks.**


	6. Dammit Derek!

Kate laid on her bed thinking about everything. It had only been a few days since she found herself in that TV show. Lizzie hated her, Derek hated Sam and Kate felt like she was becoming Casey. She knew that had to be impossible, but there was no way Kate would have been so outspoken towards Derek. _Okay, this is happening for a reason. Casey, what do you want? _Kate thought as she laid on the bed. In a moments time, she sat up and looked over at the dresser. On instinct she walked upto it and pulled open one of the six drawers of the dresser, but instead of stopping she pulled it all the way out. She bent down and put her hand through the hole, she felt something. It was a notebook. _And things just keep getting weirder and weirder. _She sat down and dusted the blue notebook off before she opened it to a random page.

_February 14th 2004: Dear diary, Today is Valentines day and Sam did something so incredibly wonderful today. He gave me himself... It was so beautiful.-_

Kate stopped and turned the page a few times; _March 1st 2004: Dear Diary, Sam broke up with me today. I feel so used... I regret ever losing it to him. Why did I do it? Why? Derek on the other hand has been acting very weird about this. He's been... Should I dare say it? Nice. I never knew he could be like this. It's kind of refreshing._

She skipped to the month of June; _Dear Diary, I know this has to be wrong, but I think I'm in love with my step-brother. I don't know what to do. Sam has been trying to get back with me, but if I did get back with him, I'd be lying to my heart. God, why does he have to be my step-brother? _

She knew it! Kate knew Casey had feelings for Derek, reading her journal just confirmed it. But she still didn't know why Casey would commit suicide. She continued to read; _Dear Diary, I feel so bad. Derek and Sam haven't been talking to eachother at all. I think it's because of me. They're being girls! _

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Kate quickly closed the book and stuffed it under the bed. "Come in," she said just sitting there on the bed.

Edwin walked in and sat next to her. He just stared at her.

Kate waited for the longest time for him to say something, but he said nothing. "Did you want something, Edwin?" She asked curiously.

He grinned at her and said, "Derek's in his room."

"And I want to know that why?" She asked.

"Because you like him," Edwin smiled. "I can see it in your eyes. It's the same look Casey had," He pointed out to her.

_Yeah, yeah, so what's new? _She thought as she sighed and looked down at her hands. "Do you know..." She trailed off. She wanted to ask if he knew if anything was going on between Derek and Casey.

Edwin got the question and replied, "Yeah... They did love eachother and I don't mean step-sibling love either."

"I see," She murmured. "Well, do you know what happened between Derek and Sam?"

Edwin was about to tell her, but they were rudely interrupted by Derek who was standing there in her doorway. "Could you give Kate and I a moment alone, Ed?" He stated more than asked.

The younger Venturi brother nodded and rushed out of the room.

As Derek closed the door Kate said, "We were just having a friendly conversation."

"Sure you were." He smirked. "Now, I hear you wanna hear the story of what happened between Sam and I." He sat on her bed as she stood up and sat on her desk.

"Actually, yes I would." She crossed her arms.

"Well, as you know Casey was Sam's girlfriend, but when they broke up she was so hurt. I've never seen her that hurt before. Yeah, they were on and off again, but that time it was for good. I- being a good so called _step-brother_- wanted to make her feel better. So I started spending alot of time with her, taking her out to pizza, to the movies, to the mini golf course, before I knew it I was falling for her. Sam found out and well... I think you know how the rest goes," Derek said.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, but that still doesn't explain why she commited suicide."

"I don't know why she did it," He said as tears welled up in his eyes. "I thought she was happy with me."

_Oh my god, he's crying. He's Derek, though. He can't cry. I guess I was wrong about him. _Kate thought guiltily. She went over and sat next to him and gently stroked his back, but he stood up refusing to accept her comfort. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him, he struggled a bit, but soon gave in and hugged her in return. They remained there for quite some time.

Kate pulled away and gazed into his eyes. So hurt and cold. "I didn't know... I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you," She said sincerely.

Derek seemed to have realized something, because he backed away real quick. "Yeah? I'm used to it," He said coldly.

_Whoa... Talk about being bipolar. Why is he acting like this? _She pondered. "What is it, Derek? Did I do something?" She asked.

He replied, "You know what? Everything was fine until you came along, why are you here? What do you want from this family?"

She took a deep breath and said, "I don't know why I'm here and I don't want anything from your family." She added, "I just want to help."

"You're doing a great job," He said sarcastically. "Getting Lizzie and Nora all worked up-"

Kate interrupted, "Hey it's not my fault I look like your step-sister!" She went on, "I believe that I'm here for a reason and I think that reason is to get to the bottom of Casey Mcdonalds suicide."

He didn't say anything and walked out seemingly upset.

_What the hell just happened? He was crying one minute and pissed off at me the next! God, men are so complicating. _Kate plopped herself on the bed and cuddled a pillow.

That night Kate had a dream; _She was standing on top of a building overlooking the student body who was staring at her. They were all screaming at her, "Don't do it, Casey! Come down!" She didn't listen. Her mind was set on one thing and one thing alone, to end this pain. She was suddenly having second thoughts about everything and decided to step off the ledge, but before she could someone had pushed her from behind and made her fall to the cold hard cement. _Kate sat up perspiring and breathing hard. She gazed out her window and saw raindrops pounding against the window. Getting out of bed she walked downstairs to get a drink of water and found Derek down there on his chair watching TV. She retrieved her glass of water and walked into the livingroom.

"Can't sleep?" She asked placing the glass on the coffee table, then she took a seat.

He didn't answer.

"You are so weird, do you know that? I'm trying to be nice here, Derek, but you keep giving the cold shoulder and I most certainly don't deserve being treated this way," She said angrily.

He still didn't say anything.

"And what the hell was that up in the room earlier? One minute you were sad and torn up inside, the next minute you were angry at the world," Her tone of voice became louder.

Derek finally said, "Kate, shut up, you'll wake everyone."

She flung her arms around and stood up. "I don't care, I am tired of being treated like some alien and I'm tired of being confused and-"

Suddenly Derek stood up and roughly sat her on the couch, he then crushed his lips to hers, causing her sensitive lips to bleed a little. He entered her mouth with his tongue making the kiss more intense. Through all this Kate was too stunned to react. He roughly pulled away and said, "I don't love you, I love Emily." He slammed his lips on to hers once more before rushing upstairs.

Kate was left there sitting on the couch. She was even more confused than before and she hated Derek for that. He had kissed her! Twice! _What the fuck was that all about! He must have lost it... What am I talking about? I'm in a TV show for godsakes! Okay Kate, focuse, all you have to do is solve Casey's death and then you'll get to go back home. I think..._

**AAA**

**A/N: Tell me what you think... **


	7. Who did it?

Kate decided that if she was going to figure out what her dream meant she was going to have to go to Casey's old high school. That meant more stares for Kate, but at this point she didn't care. Derek was acting weird and she couldn't stand that Lizzie absolutely hated her guts. She waited until after school was out before she walked into Ontario high.

The hallways were dark and the classrooms were empty. She kept walking in a steady pace down the wide hall, trying to find the principals office. She found turned a few corners, walked down some more halls and found the principals office. _Jackpot. _She thought with a grin. As she anticipated the office was locked so she put her lock-picking skills to work, which wasn't apart of Casey's character, but it was apart of Kate's. Atleast she hadn't totally forgotten everything about herself. Yet...

The door popped open and Kate sneaked in, closing the door behind her. She then saw the tall file box behind an oak desk and tip-toed towards it. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she figured she'd look for Casey's school record first. Looking under the letter of her last name she found Casey Mcdonalds file. She placed it onto the desk and quickly flipped the manila folder open, it was quite thick. She skipped through all the pages and soon came to the part where Casey had a counselor. Kate looked up for a moment in deep thought. _Paul? What would he have against Casey? _She looked back down at the paper. Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching the office, she ducked down under the desk with the file in hand. Fortunately the footsteps just past the office. Kate quickly placed the folder back into it's rightful spot in the file drawer and quietly and cautiously walked out, locking the door again. _Okay, that didn't help much. _Kate thought as she made her way towards the exit. _I should probably try to contact Paul. _

"Casey?" She suddenly heard from behind her. She turned and saw Sam standing there with his hockey stick and duffel bag.

"It's Kate," She said firmly.

He laughed and said, "Right, I'm sorry. It's just you look so much like-"

She raised her hand interrupting him, "Yeah, I know."

"What're you doing here?" He asked curiously as she crossed her arms.

_Uh-oh, what's my cover-up story? _"I wanted to tour the school Casey used to go to," She replied quickly.

He nodded. "Well there's not much to see."

She grinned and asked, "Do you know anything about her death?"

His face seemed to go pale. "Not really..." He said slowly.

"I heard from Derek you and her had broken up," Kate said firmly.

"Well, yeah we did, but it was just like every other break-up."

Suddenly they heard a car horn honk.

Sam told her. "Look, I have to go. Here's my number." He took out a sharpie and wrote his digits on the palm of her hand, then before he walked out he said, "We'll get together and discuss this more."

Kate nodded and waved at him. _I'm not sure I should go to Sam's alone. _She thought. _There's no way I'm gonna take Derek over to his house. Who else could I take? _Her eyes narrowed as she thought about the one person who she really didn't want to see at the moment.

Derek was at home sitting on the couch in the livingroom with his girlfriend, Emily. He had his arm around her as they watched hockey together. Emily looked up at Derek's perturbed countenance.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked brushing his cheek gently.

He looked down at her and replied, "Nothing."

Emily sat up and just stared at him for a moment. "Derek, you've been really distant from me lately and I want to know why."

Kate walked through the front door in that moment. She looked at the two cuddling on the couch and faked a smile. "Hi," She said, then she made her way into the kitchen.

Derek stared as Kate walked by. Emily noticed and her eyes narrowed. "Is it her?" She asked angrily.

He didn't answer, just walked up to his room.

Kate soon walked into the room and saw Emily sitting on the couch flipping through the channels. She decided to take a seat next to her.

"Hey, what's up?" Kate greeted her. She had an apple in her hand.

Emily just sat there and said nothing.

_Okay? What did I do now? _Kate asked herself in exasperation. "Did I do something?" She asked carefully.

"No," Emily finally said. "It's just Derek."

Kate gulped when she said his name. She remembered what he had done the night before. He kissed her with so much passion and hunger, yet he practically told her that he hated her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Emily asked waving a hand infront of Kate's face.

She snapped out of it and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine." The room was enveloped in an awkward silence for a few moments before Kate finally said, "So you were Casey's bestfriend right?"

The curly dark-haired girl nodded and replied, "Yeah."

"Oh," Was all Kate said. She wanted to get past all the small talk, but she didn't know how.

"God, you look so much like her," Emily said just staring at her.

"Do you know why she would do what she did?" Kate asked quickly. _Maybe that was too blunt. _She thought. _Oh well..._

Surprised and seemingly appalled Emily frowned. "No, I don't know why."

Kate had a feeling that she did know. Should she prod? "She was your bestfriend right?" She asked.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, best of."

"Well then shouldn't you know why she did it?" Kate asked cocking an eyebrow.

Emily paused for a moment seemingly not knowing what to say. "Okay, look," She lowered her voice and made sure no one was around. "You probably know that Casey and Derek kinda had a _thing _going on."

Kate nodded. "Okay, and?"

"Sam found out and was like so infuriated... I had never seen him so angry like that," Emily said as she put her feet up on the couch.

"So... You think Sam had something to do with her suicide?" Kate asked as she tried to take all this new information in.

Emily shrugged and glanced at the TV. "I honestly don't know, but I do know that Sam did something so cruel and inhumane to Casey," She began.

"What?"

Emily came in closer and whispered, "He showed everyone a video of himself and Brooke Thompson having sex in the cafeteria."

A silent gasp escaped Kate's lips and she covered her mouth. She remembered..._As soon as she walked up everyone became quiet. She saw a laptop on the table and playing on the screen was a movie of two people having sex which for Kay, was no big deal. Until she took a closer look... It was her boyfriend Jake! She could feel her breath leave her and her heart sink. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she ran out of the cafeteria, the tears pouring out of her heart to her eyes and down her cheeks._

Emily again waved a hand infront of Kate and asked, "Are you okay?"

Kate nodded.

"Look, I gotta go, tell Derek to call me later, okay?" Emily said before leaving.

All Kate did was respnd with another nod of her head. She couldn't believe this was happening. Casey commited suicide because she couldn't handle the humiliation or the pain of a broken heart. But the problem was... In her dream... Someone pushed her off...

**AAA**

**A/N: This story is becoming longer by the minute. I won't update until I get reviews...**


	8. Meeting with Sam

**A/N: Sorry it took so long updating this story. I've been busy with school. You all know what to do from here. Review, review, review!**

**AAA**

As soon as Emily left Kate walked into the kitchen to throw her apple away. Nora and George were at the counter assisting eachother with dinner. She couldn't get over how cute they were together.

"Nora," She interrupted them.

She mom looked at Kate and asked, "Yes, sweetie?"

"I was just wondering if you knew Casey's counselor's phone number," She asked with a hopeful expression on her features. Maybe he could help in some way.

Puzzled, Nora nodded. "Paul? Yeah I have his number, why?"

Kate replied, "Oh, I just wanted to talk to him about somethings."

Nora gave her a sidelong look, but decided not to prod anymore. She walked over to the drawer near the phone and rummaged through it. She took out a square white card and gave it to Kate. "You can keep that."

Kate beamed. "Thanks, Nora." Then she walked out of the kitchen and back upto Casey's room. _I'll give Paul a call first thing in the morning. _As she began to enter the bedroom, she heard something from Lizzie's room. It sounded like a TV. Curiousity came over her and she walked over to Lizzie's doorway and peered in. The young Mcdonald was watching a home video of herself and her big sister, playing in the park on the swings. Kate noticed that Lizzie was crying. Unaware that she was half way into the room, Kate accidently tripped over herself and fell on the floor. _Dammit! This is the price I pay for helping you Casey? _She thought silently.

Lizzie snapped her head towards the fallen Katelyn and just stared at her for a moment, then surprisingly began to laugh. Not quite the reaction Kate was expecting, but she didn't mind. It was different from being yelled at.

Kate stood up nonchalantly. "I'm glad somebody finds that amusing." She then took a seat next to Lizzie on the bed.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Lizzie said, "I do actually."

Kate smiled. "What are you watching?"

"What's it look like?"

Kate looked down at her hands then at the TV, then at her again. "How long ago was that?"

"A year before the incident," Lizzie replied.

This was a changed. Lizzie not being hostile to her, being quite pleasant actually. "I'm sorry about your sister," Kate said.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Kate. I've been treating you very badly and you don't even deserve it," Lizzie said sincerely.

_An apology? From Lizzie? _"What brought on this sudden discovery?" Kate asked as she crossed her arms.

"It's not your fault she's gone and I know you're just trying to help," Lizzie said with a sigh.

Kate wrapped her arms around Lizzie and embraced her tightly.

"What're you doing?"

"Shhh... Don't talk," Kate replied. The two girls sat there on the bed hugging for quite sometime. Finally, Kate didn't feel so hated anymore. Was she doing something right? Obviously, Lizzie was sitting there hugging her voluntarily.

Soon after Kate walked back out into the hallway, pausing to linger in the moment. Suddenly she heard something coming from Derek's room. A thump... Again overcome with curiousity she walked upto his room door and eavesdropped on him. He wasn't on the phone, it sounded like he was working out. She took a risk and cracked open the door to peak in. There he was on the floor in nothing but his grey pajama pants doing sit-ups. He was all covered in sweat and she could clearly see his lean six pack. _God, he is so... Wait, no! Bad Kate! _As much as she wanted to walk away, she couldn't.

"Kate?"

The call of her name startled her and she stumbled into the room and fell on the floor. Edwin was the one who had called her, she cursed her wretched clumsiness. She was also quite embarrassed.

"What were you doing?" Derek asked as he stood up and wiped his face of the perspiration.

She stood up, smiling nervously and said, "I tripped..." _Apparently, genius. _She told herself.

"I can see that," Derek said with that famous smirk which made Kate weak in the knees.

Edwin laughed a bit before he walked out and let them handle it.

Kate smiled and began to walk out, but Derek managed to jump infront of her and slam his door shut. "Not so fast," He stated. "I've been meaning to ask what you and Emily talked about."

"I don't think that's any of your business," Kate replied firmly.

"This is my house so it's my business, now tell me," He walked closer to her.

"It was just girl talk, you know, make-up, clothes, things like that," She said with a grin.

He didn't for one minute believe her. "Fine, you know what? I'm not in the mood for this." He opened the door and gestured for her to get out.

She stared at him for a moment, then stormed out as he slammed the door on her. _What an asshole! Why is he so fucking moody? He acts like such a little kid when he doesn't get his way. _She walked up to her room and shut the door.

The next day Kate called Paul and at first he thought it was Casey. Of course Kate corrected him and asked if she could come into his office to ask him a few questions about the late Casey Mcdonald. He told her that he could have her in about 2 in the afternoon. Kate told him that would be fine and hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Lizzie asked as she grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl.

"Paul," Kate replied.

Lizzie caught a glimpse of Kate's hand. "What's that?" She grabbed Kate's hand and faced her palm up to see the sharpie writing. "Who's phone number is that?"

"Sam's," Kate replied shyly.

"As in Casey's ex-boyfriend Sam?" Lizzie asked in surprise. She let go of Kate's hand.

Kate nodded.

"Why do you have his number?" Lizzie asked her in disgust. "You do know that he hurt Casey right?"

"Yeah, I know, but I just wanted to hear his side of the story. I've heard everyone else's besides his," Kate replied.

Lizzie nodded. "I understand, but just be careful."

A bit amused with Lizzie's sudden concern, Kate replied, "I promise."

Two o' clock came around the corner and Kate walked through the door of Paul's office. To tell you the truth, Kate was kind of creeped out by his character on the show. His face was priceless when she walked in and sat infront of his desk.

"Oh my god," He muttered to himself.

Sighing sheepishly, Kate murmured, "Yeah, I get that alot."

Shaking his head out of sheer amazement Paul asked, "What can I do for you..."

"Kate," She introduced herself.

He nodded. "Kate."

"I have a few questions about Casey Mcdonald," She said wasting no time.

"Okay," Paul calmly folded his hands on the desk, not entirely getting over the fact that Kate looked exactly like Casey. "Ask away."

"Did you notice any change in Casey before she died?" Kate asked.

He shook his head. "No not really... However, she did seem alot more secretive towards me."

"What do you mean?"

He answered, "Well, she was always very talkative when she walked in, but when she broke up with Sam, she suddenly became mysterious." He added, "Like she was hiding something."

"Oh, well did you know Derek and her had a little love affair?" She asked curiously.

"No, I didn't know that, really? Huh, maybe that's what she was hiding," He stated scratching his head. "I do know that Casey and Emily stopped hanging out with eachother."

"Do you know why?" Kate questioned.

"No, Casey wouldn't say," Paul replied.

Kate just sat there in thought for a moment or two. _Emily never told me that. Dammit! Now I have her to talk to again. Why would they stop hanging out? Maybe Emily got jealous. Man, this is confusing. _"Did Casey come and see you before she died?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, she did, but she seemed just fine," Paul stated. "She didn't seem like she was suicidal, but I'm no phsychiatrist."

_Paul is a family man, I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt Casey. _"Okay, well do you know who she was with before she jumped off the building?" Kate asked.

He shook his head and replied, "No, I'm sorry, I don't. She became secluded when she stopped hanging out with Emily."

"What about her boyfriend Sam?" Kate inquired. "Did she say anything about him?"

He clasped his hands on his desk. "Only that he had hurt her so unforgivably bad." He added, "She never wanted to talk about it. I understood why."

She nodded. "Okay, well thank you for your time. I appreciate it." She stood and shook his hand.

"No problem." He replied with a friendly smile.

Kate then walked out to the nearest pay phone to call Sam. He answered and she asked if he had time to talk. He did at that moment. She asked if he could pick her up from the school and he agreed. He told her he'd be there in 15 minutes.

_Well this is it, Kate. You're finally meeting with him. _She thought with a sigh as she waited outside of the school steps. Soon enough Sam pulled up in his red Chevy truck and Kate quickly hopped in. It was silent for a moment, but then Sam said, "So where do you want to talk?"

"Somewhere public. A coffee place perhaps?" Kate stated. There was no way she wanted to be alone with him.

Sam brought Kate to a small coffee shop in town and sat, while drinking hot cocoa. Kate was trying to think of questions to ask him. She was no detective, but she did read alot of the _Hardy Boys _books.

"Sam, let's skip all the small talk. I heard what you did to Casey," Kate said leaning in close to him. He seemed a bit surprise at her words.

"The tape?" He stated more than asked.

She nodded. "What inspired you to do something like that to someone like her?"

He sighed. "You don't have all the details."

She frowned and said, "All the details? I'm listening."

"Look, I didn't know I was being filmed!" Sam said upsetedly.

Kate didn't know whether to believe him or not. "Did Derek know that?"

"He didn't believe me, he still doesn't believe me," Sam stated sadly.

"Well, is that why you and him aren't on talking terms?" She asked.

He looked down at his hands and nodded. "I would never intentionally hurt Casey like that."

"Why did you have sex with that Thompson girl in the first place?" Kate asked.

"She was so seductive and beautiful... I don't know, I'm such a guy!" Sam stated in frustration.

"You two weren't together when that happened, though, right?" She placed an elbow on the small round table they were sitting at.

He shook his head. "No we weren't."

"Okay so you're telling me someone filmed you having sex with this girl and you didn't know it?" Kate summed everything all up. "Derek found out what happened and you two stopped talking because of this video."

"Did you know something was going on between Derek and Casey?" Kate asked, observing his reaction to the question. He didn't seem affected by it, he seemed rather cool and that made her a bit suspicious.

Sam nodded and said, "Yeah, I did."

"How did that make you feel?" She asked quickly. _Wow, I'm pretty good at this interrogation stuff. _She mused and smile inwardly.

He shrugged and said, "I don't know, I was upset at first. I mean, how would you feel if your bestfriend went out with your ex-girlfriend?"

"So you admit you were mad."

"Well, yeah-"

She interrupted, "Mad enough to take revenge on Casey?"

"No-"

"Angry enough to push her off the top of the library?" Kate asked sternly.

Sam stood up angrily. "No. I loved Casey Mcdonald. When I found out about her and Derek, I still loved her. I didn't care that she wasn't with me anymore. I just wanted her to be happy and she was happy with Derek." With that he left abruptly.

Kate leaned back in her seat in deep thought. He seemed sincere about everything he said, but there was one thing Kate knew about murderers. They were good at telling lies. So now all Kate had to do was begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together. However, there was still one person she had to talk to once more. Emily...


	9. Mixed Emotions

Kate headed back to the Mcdonald/Venturi home mentally exhausted. She walked into Casey's room and sat on the bed. Just as she began to relax Derek walked in. _Can't I just chill for like one second? _She thought in exasperation.

"What do you want?" She asked.

He sighed. "Look, I know what you're doing, Kate."

She crossed her arms. "And what's that?"

"You think Casey might have been murdered," Derek stated crossing his arms also. "To be honest, I think you might be on to something." He sat on her bed.

Kate frowned in puzzlement. "Really?" She added, "So you think she might have been murdered also?"

He nodded. "I've never figured out why Casey would commited suicide. She was perfectly fine."

"Well, the suspects I have so far are Sam and Emily," She stated sitting next to him.

"I never really thought Sam or Emily would do anything like that to Casey. One; Casey was once Sams girlfriend and two; Emily was Casey's bestfriend," Derek pointed out to her. "They were both devastated when it happened."

"Maybe a little too devastated?" Kate pointed out.

He stopped for a moment. "Huh!" He placed his hand under his chin thoughtfully. "They were around alot after Casey's funeral, but maybe they were being good friends?"

She grinned. "Are you sure about that?" She then asked, "When did you start going out with Emily?"

Derek replied, "A few months later."

"We have to try and figure out the motives that Emily had. I think that she might have been jealous of you and Casey," Kate stated. "But on the other hand, when Sam found out about you and Casey he had to have been torn apart."

"How do we know they both weren't in it?" He asked as he stood up and began to pace around the room.

Kate nodded. "Good point." She then said, "I have to talk to Emily again. Is there a way I get in touch with her?"

"Well, she's pretty busy this whole week, but there's a school dance this weekend that we're going to," He said. "I think Sam's going as well."

"That's the perfect opportunity to talk to both of them," She said standing up enthusiastically.

Derek smirked at her. He just stood there staring at her and it really weirded Kate out.

"What?"

He began to step closer to her, but she stepped back.

"Derek, what're you doing?" She asked.

He just crept closer and soon they were just centimeters apart. "Kate, ever since Casey died, it's been so hard for me to be with other girls. I know Emily is my girlfriend, but I still think of Casey when I'm with her. When I'm with you..." He paused.

She stared at him and studied his eyes. "What?" She asked softly.

"It feels right... I can be with you and not think of Casey," He finally finished.

_Oh my god, Kate, this can't be happening. He is not saying this to you. _"It's not because I look like her is it?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No it's not that either." He inched his lips closer to hers and just as they were about to kiss Nora called them down for dinner, startling the two.

"We should... Yeah..." Kate then quickly walked out of the room, leaving Derek alone in the room.

_Kate, you can't fall in love with a TV character! You can't have any emotional attachment! you still have to go home for christ sakes! _She stopped dead in her tracks. _Wait... How do I get home? _She shook her head of those pesky thoughts and continued into the diningroom.

Later that night as everyone slept, Kate walked downstairs to get a midnight snack. She stole a cupcake out of the fridge and poured herself a glass of milk. Just as she sat on the barstool Derek walked in saying, "I hope you didn't eat them all."

She replied, "I'm not a fatty like some people."

He glanced at her and smiled. "I resent that," He said playfully. He poured himself a glass of milk and sat next to her. "So, I just got off the phone with Emily."

"Really and what did she have to say?" Kate asked as she finished her cupcake.

He replied, "Well, I told her that this wasn't working out for me and that we should go our separate ways."

Kate almost choked on her milk. "Really? That's interesting." She tried not to sound too nervous. "What about the dance? I thought you were suppose to take her."

He grinned. "I was thinking of taking someone else."

"She's still going though, right?" She asked worriedly.

"Would you stop worrying about her for a moment? Kate, I want you to go to the dance with me," Derek said bluntly.

She put her glass in the sink. "Derek, I can't..." She trailed off.

"Why not?" He asked a bit disappointed in her reply.

"It's complicated," She said as she started walking into the livingroom.

He followed her and grabbed her by her wrist. "What're you afraid of, Kate? What?" He asked her obviously flustered.

"Look, this can't happen between us, it just can't," She said pulling her wrist away from him.

"Why? Kate, what are you hiding from me?" He crept closer to her and grabbed her by her forearms tightly, but careful not to hurt her. "Tell me."

"I'm not from here alright?" She said.

"I know that-"

"No, I'm from a different reality," She said slowly.

He gradually released her from his grasp. "What do you mean?"

"This world you think is real, it's not," She said afraid to get to the point.

"Kate, stop beating around the bush," He said firmly.

She finally blurted out, "This life you're living is a TV show."

His hands dropped to his sides as he just stared at her in utter disbelief. This is what she was afraid of. "No, how is that possible?" He ran his hand through his hair and said, "There's no way you can prove that."

She lowered her head and said, "You and Casey used to fight all the time. You saw her trip at school and baptized her with the name _Klutzilla_. You and her were in a band together named _D Rock _and she was the lead singer. You entered a contest at school and lost to that Sheldon kid. You kissed her cousin Victoria-"

That's when Derek raised his hand for her to stop. "Alright, Alright... Say I do believe you. How are you getting back to your reality?"

"That's a question **I** can't even answer."

He then asked, "And how did you come here in the first place, looking like Casey?"

Kate sighed. "Derek, I don't know! I just figure, if I solve the mystery behind Casey's death, I'll somehow get to go back home."

"I guess that makes sense," He said with a shrug.

"You think I'm crazy," She stated.

Derek just stared at her for an elongated moment then he walked upstairs to his room.

_Great job, Kate! You sure do know how to fuck things up... Looks like you scared him away. Wait... That's a good thing though, right? _She asked herself as she walked back up to her room. She was so confused...

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**A/N: Sheesh... I'll update as soon as I get reviews : )**


	10. I'm Inlove With A TV Character

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to get another chapter up. I wrote this in a hurry, if it needs revisions tell me, thanks!  
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_Oh my god Kate, Oh my god! I can't believe you told him! Why would you tell him?! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! _Kate banged her head against the wall of her room. It was four o' clock in the morning, but she coudn't sleep. How could she after what she had just told Derek. Sighing, she finally laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. _Anytime now... Fall asleep..._ She told herself. After some time of thought and telling herself she's stupid, Kate fell asleep.

The next morning, Kate awoke to Derek sitting at her bedside. Surprised, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, making sure he was real. Yep, he was real alright. She just hated the fact that she couldn't tell if he was mad, or sad, or anything. He was just staring at her blankly.

"Hey," was all she could get out.

"I stayed up all night, thinking..." He paused and continued to stare at her.

"And?" She prodded him. She couldn't stand awkward silences.

"I just... You live your whole life thinking you're the one making the decisions, when really, your not. My whole life is a script," He looked down at his hands, then looked back at her. "You should've told me sooner."

She got out of bed and replied, "I wanted to, but we hardly even knew eachother. What did you want me to say? 'Oh hey, I'm Kate, and your life is a TV show.' How crazy would that sound?"

He stood up and confronted her. Kate wasn't afraid she brought her face closer.

"I had the right to know!" He replied.

"Oh my god, Derek... You know now, so what's the difference?!" She screamed.

"The difference is I love you now!" He exclaimed.

Kate backed up and the room became deathened with silence. She sighed... She didn't know what to say to that.

"Casey left me..." It appeared as if he was going to cry. "And now you're going to leave me too." In saying that he rushed out of the room.

Kate just stood there replaying what Derek just said in her head. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she slowly fell to her knees and cried into her cupped hands.

A few minutes had passed, Kate looked up to see Marti standing at the door with a puzzled look on her face. The little girl walked in and sat next to Kate.

"What's wrong, Katie?" Marti asked.

"Nothing, I'm just sad," Kate replied rubbing her rosy cheeks of her tears.

"Did Derek make you cry? I can go beat him up if you want me to," The little girl patted Kate's back soothingly.

Kate couldn't help but to laugh. "No, it's okay, Marti."

"Are you sure?" She looked Kate in the eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Kate replied with an assuring smile. "But thanks anyway."

"No problem." Marti gently wiped Kate's eyes with her little hands, stood up and skipped out of the room.

The days passed, Derek and Kate didn't sat one word to eachother. When they passed eachother in the hall, Derek would just ignore her and Kate did the same. She knew he was expecting an apology, but why? She never did anything wrong. It was his fault for falling in love with her, but then again, she did kind of wait too long to tell him.

The day before the dance finally came and the two teenagers still were stone cold against eachother, until Derek bumped Kate in the hallway. She wasn't just going to let that go.

"Hey!" She said angrily. Luckily everyone was out for ice-cream.

"Oops..." Was all he said.

"You did that on purpose!" She rose her voice.

Derek rolled his eyes. "That wasn't on purpose. This is on purpose." He then shuved her back against the wall.

She retorted and pushed him against the wall.

He laughed and said, "You call that a push?"

Her eyes narrowed and she quickly put her arm around his head in a headlock. They both fell to the floor with a thump. He wrapped his arms around her waist and with his strong hockey arms he pulled her off of him. He had her face up on the floor, her hands pinned, and her body pinned down with his body. She kept struggling, when finally she decided it was no use.

Without warning, Derek leaned down and gently pursed his lips against hers. Kate was no doubtedly surprised, but she couldn't bring herself to pull away from his luscious lips. Their lips glided against one anothers and their tongues tangled as Derek let go of on of her hands and slid his hand up and down her athletic body. After a few seconds he held her hand again and began to caress her soft neck. Kate was ticklish there, though, so she laughed. Derek just looked at her and laughed also.

"I can't help it, Kate..." He said with a smile.

Kate sighed and sat up. He sat beside her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize." There was a silence between the two before Derek said, "I just want to enjoy the time I have with you, before you leave."

"So you're still taking me to the dance?" She smiled.

"I wouldn't go with anyone else." He put his arm around her and hugged her tightly.

_I love when he holds me. It feels so good. Why God? Why do I have to leave? _She sighed and admitted to herself. _I'm inlove with a TV character. _She didn't care though. She just laid her head on his shoulder and savored the moment.

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**A/N: Another chapter you say? Coming right up!**


	11. One Last Dance

**A/N: So I finally posted another Chapter does it seem kind of fast???**

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It was the night of the dance and there Kate stood in front of the mirror just staring at herself. She was wearing a long black halter dress with a slit on the side, showing off one of her decadent perfectly tanned legs. The dress had little specs of silver in it and she wore silver strap heels with it. Her wavy hair was pulled up in a simple but elegant ponytail; strands of curls fell onto her shoulders and around her lovely features. She took a deep breath and felt sad; for she had a feeling this would be the night.

"Wow…" She suddenly heard.

She saw Derek all dressed up in black and white, his tie not pulled up all the way to his neck. Kate smiled at him and faced him. "What?"

"Word's couldn't describe the way you look," he walked up to her and gently pressed his lips to hers in an intimate manner. What started as an innocent kiss became hot and steamy.

"We should go," She said breathing as deeply as he was.

"But I don't wanna," He said in a whiny voice.

She laughed.

"I'll go start the car." He walked out.

The ride to the school gym was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Derek kept glancing at Kate as he was driving. She caught him a few times and would just smile. Finally they arrived at the dance, but they sat in the car for a moment to spend a moment alone with each other.

"This is it," Derek said after he took a deep breath.

She nodded and took his hand in hers, suddenly lightning flashed in the sky and thunder roared. Kate looked out and saw black clouds in the sky. "We should get in before it starts raining."

He nodded and they made their way in to the school gym. As they walked in, Kate noticed that every person in that gym- all 200 plus students- were staring at them walking in. She whispered to Derek, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yeah, just ignore them," Derek whispered back. "Let's dance." He pulled her out onto the dance floor. A slow song started to play. It was "All my life" by KC&JOJO.

"You're quite a dancer, Derek Venturi."

He said nothing and he spun her and dipped her.

She laughed. "You're just full of surprises."

He nodded and put his forehead against hers as the song ended. They went to go sit at an empty table and Derek went to go get them some punch. As Derek did that, Kate spotted Emily sitting a few tables away with Sam. _Wait, why is she here with Sam? _She then saw Brooke Thompson sitting with them. The three of them looked very suspicious, but maybe it's because Kate wanted them to look suspicious, then again…

"One fruit punch for the beauty in black," Derek handed her a cup.

As she sipped on the punch she watched Sam, Emily and Brooke subtly. She made sure that she wasn't too obvious. Emily then stood up and walked out of the gym doors which lead to the school hallway.

"I'm gotta go to the bathroom," Kate said standing up casually and following Emily out those same doors. By the time Kate passed through Emily had disappeared so she took a guess and walked through a random door, closing it softly. She realized that it lead to a dark stairway. She noticed through a small square window that it had begun to rain hard. She heard footsteps above her. She looked up through the winding stairway and saw a familiar shadow making its way up. Suddenly she heard a door slam shut and that was Kate's cue to pursue. The clacking of her heels against the steps was drowned out by the roar of thunder in the darkened skies. Lightning shone through the small windows of the staircase giving Kate a dim light to her path. She finally stepped foot on the very top of the staircase, there in front of her was a door which led to the roof. The very same roof Casey supposedly jumped off of. She walked through and scoped the area when she laid eyes on Emily sitting on the ledge her back facing Kate.

"Emily…" Kate said carefully approaching her through the rain. It had started to sprinkle. Emily looked back at Kate and said nothing she just kept staring out at the city view. "What're you doing up here?"

"I should ask you the same question," she finally said after a moment of silence.

"Well, I was curious; you just left the dance and your date."

Emily shook her head. "I don't really care."

Kate sighed and sat next to her. "Are you mad at me?"

"For what?"

"Look, I know you think I'm the reason he broke up with you," Kate said bluntly.

"No, I don't think, I know you're the reason he broke up with me, but I really don't care. Our relationship felt dry and lifeless, the only reason why I stayed with him was because of Casey," Emily said sounding as if she were going to cry.

"Oh, Emily… I'm so sorry." Kate hugged her compassionately.

"I miss my best friend, Kate." Emily wiped the tears from her eyes as Kate let her go. "I feel so guilty because all I would talk about was Derek."

"I'm sure she knew you cared about other things than Derek," Kate said assuringly.

"I just feel so shallow and she was so smart and talented. She didn't know it, but there were a lot of guys after her, I was just too jealous to tell her." Emily stopped and just sat there in silence as the storm began to pick up again.

"We should get out of here," Kate stood up and helped Emily down from the ledge. But before they could walk off, Emily pulled her back.

"Wait, I can't keep this in anymore, I have to tell someone."

"Okay," Kate waited patiently even though the rain began to pour again.

"You know Casey's accident? It wasn't an accident at all, this place… It was Casey's thinking spot. She would come up here to sort things out." Emily stated.

Kate nodded and asked, "What are you saying? You think someone pushed her off?"

"No I know someone pushed her off…"

As Kate waited for the name of Casey's murderer to leave her lips thunder roared in the sky and Emily eyes suddenly widened. They looked down at Emily's lower shoulder and saw blood seeping through her off the shoulder dress. She began to fall back, but Kate wouldn't allow it, she caught her and cradled Emily in her arms.

"No! Emily! Em, stay with me," Kate said desperately.

"K-Kate," the wounded girl whispered. "It was…" Her breathing was labored.

"What, Emily?"

She kept breathing hard, and kept trying to get it out. She was struggling to live, but her will to live wasn't enough. She took her last breath in Kate's arms.

"No," Kate murmured. Tears began to stream down her eyes as she gently shut Emily's eyes. She laid her body on the ground as the rain pounded against her skin washing away the blood from her hands.

"I always knew she would be the one to crack," Kate suddenly heard from behind her. She turned around to face the person and there Kate saw the face of Emily and Casey's murderer.

"You…"


	12. I Will Never Forget You

**A/N: This chapter is short just to warn you.**

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Kate stood there in bewilderment, staring at the person who murdered Casey. It was Brooke Thompson… That girl Sam cheated on Casey with, but what did she have against Casey?

Brooke stood in front of Kate pointing a gun to her. "Why couldn't you just mind your own business, you clone freak?"

"Why, Brooke," Kate said hesitantly.

Suddenly Derek and Sam came bursting through the door, they both saw Brooke holding a gun and came to a rapid stop. They also saw Emily's lifeless body on the ground.

"Emily," Sam whispered sadly.

Derek said nothing, but expressed much sorrow.

"Ah, here we are… All together, isn't that sweet?" Brooke said pointing the gun at all three of them. "Now that you all are here, I think it's time you know the truth about Casey McDonald." Brooke began. "I used to go to her private school before she moved here. She was such a beautiful person, straight 'A' student, star talent, class president. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't give me the time of day!"

"Brooke… did you love her?" Kate asked.

"Yes, I did… I changed schools for her and then I find out she's dating this prick," She pointed the gun toward Sam and he flinched. "So I seduced him, recorded Sam and I having sex and showed it to the whole school. I wanted her to feel the pain I felt when I found out she had sex with Sam."

Kate looked at Brooke severely. "You monster…"

Brooke pointed back to Kate. "No, she was! I followed her up here one day and admitted my feelings for her, but she said she loved you," She pointed the gun at Derek. "I tried telling her that I was meant for her, not you, Derek Venturi. She insisted that you loved her back. I tried to kiss her to prove to her that we were meant to be, but she resisted me so I figured if I can't have her no one will."

"So you pushed her off…" Kate finished for her.

Brooke pointed back at her and said sarcastically, "Aren't you a smart little cookie." She pointed back at Derek, "It was you! You were never good enough for Casey! You are a womanizer!"

"No one has to die tonight, Brooke," Derek stated.

"Oh, but you really do…"

Kate saw that Brooke was going to pull the trigger and quickly dove in front of Derek right as she pulled it. Kate fell to the ground in pain and Derek lunged at Brooke knocking the gun from her hands. It fell to the wet ground and Sam went to pick it up, but Brooke tripped him and went after the gun herself. Derek grabbed her foot and pulled her towards him, "I never hit girls, but in your case I'll make an exception." He then punched her hard enough to knock her out. He let her lay there unconscious as Sam retrieved the gun, then they both turned to Kate, who was wounded laying there on the cold wet ground.

Derek held her in his arms and said to Sam, "Go call an ambulance, hurry!"

Sam nodded and ran off to do the deed.

"Why'd you go and do that for, Kate?" Derek asked.

"I couldn't let the main character of the show die," She mused; suddenly a sharp pain was felt in her stomach. She knew she didn't have much time left, she knew her fate and accepted it. At this time the weather had calmed down and Kate could see the tears in Derek's eyes clearly. "Hey, none of that now, be happy. We found Casey's murderer."

He nodded. "I know, but…"

Kate knew what he was going to say. "I'm going to miss you too, Der." She could feel her body failing, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, beating it's last. "I… love you."

He smiled vaguely and nodded. "I love you too."

"I will never forget you." she breathed.

He brushed her pale cheek with his hand and replied, "And I will never forget you, Katelyn Thomas."

There was a slight grin on her face as she inhaled… then exhaled… one… last… time… Her body just lay there inert in his arms as he wept silently burying his face in her neck.

She was gone… Katelyn Thomas had finally gone home…

**AAA**

**A/N: Review! No flamers please!**


	13. You Gave Me Hope

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to finish the final chapter. I couldn't think of a better way to end this story, but I'm open to suggestions. Thank you to everyone for the support! No flamers please. **

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Her head began to spin as she thought, _what happened? _She tried to move but her whole body ached. She kept hearing someone call her name and immediately thought it was Derek. She finally opened her eyes, it was blurry at first, then her sight cleared up again. "Derek?" She murmured.

"Derek?"

She looked up and saw the face of her mother. She was sitting at Kate's bedside. It seemed it was all nothing but a dream. She heaved a deep sigh and wondered why she would dream something like that. She sat up and said, "Sorry, mom," She gave her mom a warm hug.

"The principal just called me and told me what happened at school today. Why didn't you tell me?" Her mother asked concernly.

Kate grinned and replied, "Don't worry about it, mom. I'm so over it."

Surprised the mom asked, "Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent sure," Kate responded.

"Okay, well good-night, sweetie." After kissing her daughter on her fore-head she walked out of the room closing the door.

Kate lay back down. She couldn't help but think about Derek, even though he was a fictional character. She actually fell in love with him and it killed her that she could never be with him. Then again she thought on the bright side, at least she experienced the beauty of what it was like to love and be loved in return. She then realized that she wasn't in her pajamas yet, so she stood up out of bed and as she did this an envelope fell to her cream colored carpet. _What in the world? _She thought as she picked up the small white envelope and disclosed its contents. It was a letter, and this is what it read:

_I know you probably won't get this letter until after the dance, but I had a feeling I wouldn't see you after, so I wrote you a letter. It's hard to express what I feel through writing so please, bear with me. Kate, before I met you I was a wreck. Losing the love of my life, I quit everything I was involved in, namely Hockey and Theater. Then you came along and gave me hope. You helped me love again and I will never forget you for that. I wish that you could've stayed here with me or vice versa, but I know we both live in different worlds, literally. I'm just thankful that I met such a unique, caring person and I wanted to say I love you Katelyn Thomas. I hope that life in your world works out for you and I will miss you. We all will…_

Kate wiped the tear from her eye and folded the letter back up and put it on her bedside table. She stopped to think for a moment then just smiled and continued to her bathroom. She looked into the mirror and mumbled to herself, "You gave me hope as well, Derek Venturi."

**AAA**

_The Greatest thing you'll ever know is to love and be loved in return._


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